The project is ambitious and the goal is to leave the student community with established structures to provide a high level of knowledge and preparedness among participating students so that they can deal with these issues once the project is over. The project will also support the establishment of common ways of working and develop a more coherent approach to prevention. A third objective is to develop clear processes for how sexual harassment and harassment are to be investigated and managed, who is to investigate and manage cases, and what actions are reasonable to take.
I have written in several newsletters about the University’s work against sexual harassment. In 2018, the University initiated the Tellus project, which aimed to strengthen the university-wide work against sexual harassment. An important result from Tellus was the finding that sexual harassment among students mainly takes place outside Lund University and often in social contexts connected to their studies. Lund University has no formal responsibility for what happens outside of studies or outside of University premises. Yet harassment impacts the study environment, studies in general and the health of students who are victims of it. Therefore, this is an important part of Lund University’s work against sexual harassment among students, which needs to be done in close collaboration with the students themselves.
Lund has a fantastic, extensive and popular student life based on many longstanding traditions. Much is already being done to prevent sexual harassment and harassment in these contexts. My hope is that the project will lead to greater clarity, visibility and security for the students who come to study in Lund. We are stronger together!
/ Jimmie Kristensson, pro vice-chancellor
